Brothers Beyond Blood
by D4rKn3sS
Summary: They aren't bound by blood, but Naruto and Sasuke are brothers that go beyond such boundaries. Once they became shinobi they are put onto a unique team of five, and hilarity ensues. NaruHina, SasuSaku, everything else in the air. More humour/adventure than romance.
1. Chapter 1 An Uzumaki and an Uchiha

**Brothers Beyond Blood**

Chapter 1 – An Uzumaki and an Uchiha

**A/N**: Only the start of this chapter is serious, since it is all setup. This is meant to be a more comedic style story, since most of my writing is generally serious.

Also, this is not a Naruto x Sasuke fanfiction. They are the main characters, but they are not 'together'. It's more like a bromance. The two main pairings are pretty clear, but everything else is up for grabs. As I said, this isn't particularly serious. Think of their relationship like it was before Sasuke went all…Sasuke on his friends.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the humour would be more like One Piece's.

* * *

The screams of the baby in the room were deafening, but so was the yelling of the village leaders as Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and rubbed his eyes. It had only been a few hours since they had brought back the Fourth Hokage's body with his wife's, and the discovery that the boy hadn't been killed by the Kyuubi was causing quite a stir.

"The boy should be killed!"

"He's a threat to the whole village."

At the edge of the room Jiraiya slammed a sandaled foot into the ground, causing enough of a racket to silence most of the protestors. He glared at the collected Jounin, noticing the solemn look on Minato's pupil Kakashi in the back.

"Show some respect! Our leader is dead. His son carries a heavy burden."

Hiruzen sucked in a collection of smoke from his pipe and stared out at the room. They had lost too many good shinobi in the defence of the village, but he didn't understand why Minato would place such a burden on his own son.

"We need to reassure the villagers that there no longer is a threat. As the previous Hokage, I must assume my previous role, until such a time as we can decide on a successor to Minato."

The Jounin in the room nodded their acknowledgement; they had been expecting such a thing to happen.

"But what about the boy?"

"And the Kyuubi?"

The yelling began again, but only for a few seconds before the door to the room slammed open and a young boy ran into the room, carrying a baby in his hands. Hiruzen's eyes widened when he recognised the boy as the young prodigy from one of the most powerful clans in the village.

The young boy had tears coming down his face as he dropped to his knees, the young baby screams matched Minato's boy.

"What is it? How did you get in here young man?" Hiruzen never sounded strict when addressing children, but there was something about the desperate look on the young man's face that gave him cause for concern.

A Jounin went to take the baby from his hands, but Itachi glared at him hatefully, enough to cause him to back off. The five year old turned back to the old leader and swallowed to stop the tears from flowing.

"They are all gone. All gone…"

"Calm down, Itachi. Who are you talking about?"

"There…was a blast from the Kyuubi just before it disappeared. I was able to get away in time, but Father and the others…"

Hiruzen nodded quickly to two of the remaining ANBU, telling the shinobi to check out the situation while he consoled the young boy.

The Jounin around began talking among themselves, the destruction of the Uchiha clan was massive news, if it was true.

Jiraiya walked over to his old teacher and crossed his arms. "Sensei, what are we going to do about the boys? There are lots of orphans tonight, but these three…"

"I know. Minato didn't do anything by accident, so giving his son the Kyuubi was intentional. We need to protect the boy, as well as the two Uchiha boys."

"Do you have a plan?"

The old man placed down his pipe and regarded the rest of the Jounin in the room. "Minato left us a legacy. We have a right to protect that legacy. I will say now that Naruto is not, and will never be a threat to this village. You are all to report to the ANBU headquarters in the morning, to have the knowledge that he is the container of the Kyuubi wiped from your memories."

That sparked immediate protests, but Jiraiya slammed his foot into the floor again to silence them.

Hiruzen shook his head, the decision weighed heavily on him. "I'm doing this for the village's protection and the boy's. This is not a decision I make lightly, but it is one that will be followed to the letter."

The Jounin mumbled quietly, but they seemed to understand why the Hokage had made the decision. They didn't know it, but it wasn't the first time such a thing had occurred, though it was only for the most dire of circumstances. The leader dismissed them and let them return to their families. He smiled as he motioned for Itachi to bring the baby up to him. The young Uchiha never let go of the baby, as if it was the most precious thing left to him.

"Who is your friend, young man?"

Using a free hand, Itachi wiped his face and smiled as he tried to rock the baby back to sleep. "My little brother, Sasuke. He's all I have left."

"Don't worry young man; I won't let anything happen to him."

* * *

***Five Years Later***

Placing a spoon into his soup, a young Sasuke smiled as he began to eat his dinner. A few tastes later and he found there was a weird taste on his tongue. He made a face and tried to work out what tasted so strange, until he looked in a mirror and saw that his tongue was green.

He flipped his head around quickly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of yellow behind a wall that suddenly disappeared.

"That idiot…"

Sasuke balled his small fists and charged after the owner of the yellow hair, yelling out his fury as it fled from his wrath.

At the entrance a young boy of ten shook his head and squirmed under his slightly oversized flak jacket. The Hokage standing beside him chuckled as they watched the young Uchiha chase after a blonde boy around his age.

"The two of them seem to be getting along rather well."

Itachi grinned and watched his brother tackle the Fourth Hokage's son and begin laying into him. Naruto fought back valiantly while the other orphans began cheering them on.

"If they don't kill each other first. Sometimes I think Naruto likes the attention."

"Well it's clear that they are busy, perhaps we should come back later." The Hokage refrained from smoking in the orphanage, and was itching to get back to some of his other duties.

Itachi looked up at the Hokage and nodded slowly. "That would be wise, Hokage-sama. Sasuke will not care about my promotion, he'll only think about new ways to get past me."

A yell drew their attention back to the fight. They saw Naruto standing over Sasuke's fallen body, his arms raised in triumph.

"I finally won! Take that, teme!"

Suddenly Sasuke flipped around and took out Naruto's legs from under him, causing the blonde to crash into the ground with a comedic yelp. "Baka. You'll never defeat an Uchiha."

He turned around with a scoff and began to walk away, only to be tackled to the ground again by the blonde boy.

"Teme, I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage! You'll never beat me!"

Itachi stifled a grin and crossed his arms across his chest. "You'd never think they weren't brothers, would you?"

The Hokage chuckled in agreement, "I think you are right. Though we should break them up, otherwise they'll just beat each other senseless. It wouldn't look good for two children to nearly kill each other in the presence of the Hokage, would it?"

Placing his hands together in a handseal, Itachi nodded. "Yes sir."

* * *

***Two Years Later***

Naruto was wandering the woods near the Academy when he heard a young girl yelp in pain. Unable to block it out due to his nature, Naruto ran towards the sound, hoping that nothing bad was happening.

After a few moments he saw a young girl being bullied by three older boys, who seemed more than happy to just push her around. Naruto felt his seven-year old arms tense in anger; he hated bullies and everything they did to people.

"Cut it out."

The three bullies turned to him in surprise then scoffed when they saw who it was.

"You want some of this, blondey?" said the one in the brown cap.

Naruto stared at the bullies, trying to make sure that the dark haired girl had time to pick herself up from the ground.

"Hey, isn't he…"

"Yeah, he's that kid."

Naruto frowned and glared at them. "I'm not, 'that kid'. I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be the Hokage someday!"

The three bullies stared at him for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. They knew who he was, but that didn't matter it seemed like such a strange thing to say.

"Don't be so stupid! An idiot like you, become Hokage?"

The young girl stared up at him, but before Naruto could see her face he fell backwards clutching at his nose, grimacing as a punch sent him crashing into the ground.

One of the bullies laughed loudly and pointed at him, "That's what you get, baka."

Naruto swore and picked himself up from the ground, wiping his face before placing his hands together in a handseal.

The bullies recoiled immediately, as students of the Academy they knew what a handseal was, though Naruto wasn't yet a student so they had no idea what he was going to do.

The blonde boy ran towards the bullies with his hands together in a tiger-seal "Taijutsu Ougi!"

He aimed himself at the middle bully, who turned and moved to run away from him and his intense gaze. Naruto grinned and aimed his fingers.

"SENNEN GOROSHI!" (Thousand Years of Pain)

The boy screamed out in pain and was sent flying forwards, his two friends taking only a few seconds before they recoiled again and ran away from him.

Naruto grinned and turned around to see the young girl slowly standing up from the ground. He went to offer her a hand, but decided to wipe his hands on his orange jacket first.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded slightly, Naruto wasn't able to see her face since she was staring at the ground and she was shorter than him. "Th…thank you. Why…did you help me?"

Naruto grinned and placed his hands on his hips. "I'm going to be the next Hokage! A leader should help those in need."

"Ano…thank you…"

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

The young girl shook her head again before looking up at his face directly. A deep blush ran across her pale cheeks when she saw the intense gaze of his blue eyes hit her pure white globes.

"I…" She couldn't finish the sentence; she was too embarrassed by his staring at her. It wasn't a spiteful stare like the one the bullies gave her. He was just looking at her, and that was a strange thing to the young girl.

"Well, as long as you are okay, I should keep going. If I'm late, Itachi is going to collect me around the ears."

He grinned and waved at her as he ran off into the distance, leaving the young girl to her own devices. A white-eyed shinobi ran towards her after a few seconds and skidded to a halt with concern written over his face. "Hinata-sama! Are you okay? You shouldn't have run away like that!"

She watched until he was completely gone from sight before smiling and turning to her companion. "I…I'm sorry. Can I go home now?"

"Of…of course, Hinata-sama. Who was that boy?" asked the shinobi, offering her a hand to follow him with.

"A future Hokage" was all she could reply with, as she smiled to herself and let her companion take her back to the Hyuuga complex.

* * *

Not for the first time today, Sasuke felt a weird sense of foreboding as he walked into the florist. Today was always a prank-free day from Naruto, so he wasn't concerned about a sneak-attack. But at the same time he understood why it was so important. He had been told by Itachi that he had to do it, but his protests of it being 'beneath' him fell on deaf ears, and as such the younger Uchiha found himself looking for a particular bouquet of flowers for the special day.

The shop was fairly empty, it was a special day for everyone and Sasuke had left it to the last minute, so there weren't too many flowers left in the shop. Looking around the shop he couldn't see an attendant to help him, since he didn't know what the flowers he was looking for looked like.

He made his way to the desk and rang the bell twice.

"Ino! Can you take that?" came a woman's voice from behind a door.

"I'M ALREADY HERE!" To say the voice was screeching would be an understatement. It took considerable effort not to shield his ears as a young blonde girl his age appeared beside the desk, with a frown on her face and her arms crossed.

"Are you…" her sentence dragged into nothingness as she saw his face.

A deep blush came across her face that was accompanied by a wide smile. "Can I help you with anything?"

Sasuke shrugged off her instant change in attitude and stared at her blushing face. "I need a bouquet of blood petals."

"Blood petals? For mourning?"

Sasuke didn't respond to her question, he didn't feel a need to explain himself.

The girl called Ino struggled not to giggle under his dark eyed-gaze, and when it became apparent he wasn't going to say anything back she nodded and pulled out a book full of numbers. She traced a finger down a page before nodding slowly and closing the book.

"We have one bouquet left, out the back. It was meant to be for someone else…but I sure they won't mind giving it to such a handsome boy like you."

Sasuke frowned and watched as she disappeared into the back of the shop.

_Why is it that all girls act like that? Is there some kind of sickness going on?_

The bell on the door rang as a young pink-haired girl bounced into the shop. She had a gleeful expression on her face and a red ribbon in her hair, holding it back from covering her surprisingly wide forehead.

"Ino, I came to…." As with the other girl her sentence ran off when she saw him waiting in the shop.

Her blush matched her pink hair immediately, and Sasuke had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He turned back as the blonde girl came back into the store, holding a pot containing an dark red and yellow set of flowers.

"Sasuke-kun, I've got your…Sakura? What are you doing here?"

_I never told her my name…this just gets weirder and weirder. _

The blonde girl placed the pot onto the desk and stared at the pink-haired girl. "Sakura, I'm in the middle of talking with my Sasuke-kun. Can you come back later?"

"Eh? Sasuke? The Uchiha prodigy? But he's so handsome!"

"And he's mine! Don't come in here with your wide forehead and mess everything up."

Sasuke was forced to take a step back as the two girls began to tear into each other, pulling at each other's hair and tackling themselves to the ground. This went on for nearly a minute, until the young Uchiha realised that they weren't going to stop anytime soon.

_Any longer and I'm going to be late. _

He walked over to the desk and picked up the pot of flowers, placing a few bills on the desk before turning back to look at the struggling girls. A few seconds later he shrugged and left the florist, leaving them to their own devices.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi all stood before the memorial stone and bowed respectfully. Itachi had his ANBU mask up on his hair; he didn't want to hide his face from his family.

Sasuke had placed his flowers at the base of the memorial and the two Uchiha brothers struggled to remember what their families were like before the Kyuubi killed them.

"Can we go to my families' stone now?" asked Naruto quietly. He didn't want to intrude upon their grief, particularly Itachi who knew his parents before they were killed.

The two brothers looked at each other for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Would you like us to come with you, Naruto?" Itachi liked the young blonde, he saw him as a good influence for his otherwise dour younger brother.

The Hokage's son shrugged before moving off to the other side of the cemetery. Sasuke looked up at his brother, but before Itachi could say anything he put his hands in his pockets and walked after his friend.

The elder Uchiha couldn't help but crack a small smile. Neither of them would ever admit it to each other, but he suspected the two of them were closer brothers than he and Sasuke were.

_And yet they are so different. Maybe I should talk to the Hokage about it, get them enrolled in the Academy early. Sasuke is already asking to learn techniques, and if Naruto is anything like his father than they could be some of the most powerful shinobi of their generation. _

When he got to the stone, Naruto was already chatting away to the stone bearing his mother and father's names.

"And I found a special taijutsu technique that I heard a group of Jounin chatting about. You put your hands in a special handseal and drive them straight into…"

Both Itachi and Sasuke grimaced as Naruto explained to his deceased parents a rather bizarre taijutsu technique he had learnt. Neither he nor Sasuke had learnt any real ninjutsu techniques, but that didn't stop them from talking about being a shinobi constantly. Everyone in the village knew of Naruto's goal, he enjoyed shouting it from the rooftops, but Sasuke's was much subtler, and if Itachi didn't know his brother so well he wouldn't have been able to figure it out at all.

_He's set on resurrecting the clan by any means necessary. Not numbers-wise, but power-wise. _

"…and that's about all for this year. There isn't anything else to say really…except that I really miss you guys. I promise I'll make you proud."

He turned to his two companions with a grin, "Anything you guys want to say?"

Sasuke thought about it for a few seconds before placing his hands together and bowing respectfully.

"I'm sorry your son is such an idiot. You couldn't have known."

Naruto glared at the younger Uchiha but didn't move against him. It wasn't long before he had a revenge plan in mind, but he kept it to himself.

"We should head back to the orphanage you two. I have a mission in the morning, and I'm sure you two are tired." Itachi wasn't living with them in the orphanage anymore; he was saving money so that he could take Sasuke back to live in a new building being built where the Uchiha complex used to be.

Naruto stared at the stone for a few moments before turning back to his friends. "I'd…like to stay a little bit longer. You guys go on ahead."

Itachi motioned for Sasuke to go on ahead, waiting until he was out of earshot before turning to the blonde boy. "You don't have to suffer alone, Naruto. I know this day is hard for you, but your birthday doesn't have to be this way."

The seven-year old blonde smiled awkwardly, trying his best to hide the sadness he felt in his heart. Even at seven, he understood more than most people about what the day truly was. It was his birthday, but it was also the day that many people died, including both his and the Uchiha brother's parents.

"I'll be fine, Itachi. Just…give me a little bit."

Itachi patted him on the back in a rare display of affection and walked away, leaving Naruto at the stone by himself.

"Now to tell you guys the stuff I didn't want to say in front of those guys…"

* * *

The instructor at the head of the class motioned for quiet, and to his surprise the children obeyed.

_I wonder how long that will last. _

"I am Iruka, your teacher. For the next five years I, and other Chuunin will be teaching you how to be shinobi. Look around at your fellow students. They might save your life one day. Now, I want everyone to come up to the front one at a time. State your name, and what your dreams or goals are. If you don't have one that's fine, but it's a way for us to get to know you better."

He looked around the room until he pointed at the first boy at the front of the room. "You first, come on. Down the front."

The young boy slowly came to the front with his hands in his pockets and a disinterested look on his face. He wore his hair back in a spikey ponytail and yawned loudly before standing in front of the class.

"I'm…Nara Shikamaru. I don't really have any goals. I'm just here because my dad was sick of me moping around the house."

Iruka sighed, "Thank you for that…Shikamaru. Next."

A young girl stood at the front, with her hands on the back of her neck. She wore a deep brown robe with short spiky brown hair and strangely deep purple eyes. Cracking her neck, she grinned and flicked her hand, leaning on a stick of wood that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

That drew the class' attention, enough for them to start whispering among themselves.

"I'm Senju Fiore. I don't intend to let this remain a dream. I will be the Hokage, like my grandfather, the Second Hokage."

Iruka grinned as the young girl took her seat next to Shikamaru. He'd been informed of her entry into the Academy, and it felt wholly appropriate with all the clan heirs in the generation.

Another boy walked down the front, this one munching idly on a bag of potato chicks as he stood in front of the class.

"I'm…Akimichi…Chouji. I…um…I dunno. I haven't…thought that…far ahead."

Iruka nodded and smiled as Chouji wobbled back to his seat. He didn't want to think about the grief the other children were going to give the large boy; it was mostly out of his hands.

As Chouji resumed his seat, a boy wearing a large jacket and coat with dark sunglasses slowly came to the front of the class with his hands in his pockets.

"Aburame Shino."

He didn't say anything else, taking his seat back next to Chouji. The rest of the children weren't sure what to make of him, but as the next one bounded down to the front.

He had two fang-marks on his cheeks and a small white dog sat on his head as he grinned a fang-toothed smile at his fellow students.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this is Akamaru. We are here to kick ass and chew meat. And I eat plenty of meat every day."

He laughed at his own joke and ran back up to his seat, taking no notice that none of the other students laughed at it.

The young white-eyed girl that Naruto had met weeks before slowly made her way down to the front, holding her hands together with an embarrassed look on her face. It didn't take a genius to tell she wasn't very confident in herself, Iruka figured he would have some extra work to do with the girl.

"Ano…my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I…would like to…be a strong ninja like my father…I think…"

She pushed her fingers together awkwardly before slowly walking back to her seat. Passing her on the way down, Sasuke walked as if he didn't have a care in the world.

He wore the same Uchiha shirt he always wore, and to his indifference and the Naruto's puzzlement the girls in the class seemed to squeal as he stared up at the other children.

"Uchiha…Sasuke. I have no interest in stating my goals."

He gazed over the class, trying to identify who the strong ones might be for him to challenge. The Inuzuka seemed crazy, but might be a contender, but beyond that he didn't see much competition. He made his way back to his seat, barely noticing the two girls giving him googly eyes as he sat back down. Try as he had, he'd been unable to stop the blonde and pink-haired girls from sitting next to him, it seemed like they had a rivalry similar to the one he had with Naruto. He could at least appreciate that about the girls, though he found them mostly intolerable beyond that.

Iruka frowned as he stared at the blonde girl sitting at Sasuke's side. He coughed into his hand in a vain attempt to get her attention. "Next please."

The blonde girl glared at the teacher for a second before standing up from her seat.

"Yamanaka Ino. My dream is to become Sasuke-kun's wife!"

The pink-haired girl on the other side of Sasuke stood up immediately and pointed an accusatory finger at the blonde girl. "Ino-pig! That's my dream!"

Iruka planted a hand on his face and shook his head. There was always a few, and this generation seemed to be no exception. He stared back up at the girls, who appeared to be at each other's throats.

"And your name is?"

The pink-haired girl stopped shaking Ino for a moment and turned to the teacher, "Haruno Sakura. And don't let this Ino-pig fool you; I'm the one who will capture Sasuke-kun's heart."

Iruka just shrugged and shook his head again, doing a mental count to see if he had missed anyone out. He noticed an empty seat behind Sasuke and the girls, which he could have sworn had been occupied before.

As a Chuunin, Iruka had finely honed senses when it came to threats within a certain range, but when Naruto sprung up beside him he nearly jumped out of his skin. The seven-year old blonde boy stood on top of his desk with his chest puffed out, and his hands on his hips.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Remember my name, as it'll be the name of the next Hokage!"

He took the time to glare at the young Senju girl sitting near the front, who only grinned in return and picked at her teeth with a tiny piece of wood.

Iruka could feel a headache coming on as Naruto took a pose on the desk of a rather dramatic fashion.

_This is either going to be very interesting, or I'm going to want to kill myself by the end of the day. _

He rubbed his eyes and looked up, only to see Ino and Sakura brawling on the stairs and Kiba's dog peeing all over his desk.

_I need to start drinking…_

* * *

***Three Years Later***

Iruka watched as the children walked out, looking over their final reports with mixed joy and disgust. He was mostly happy with their progress, though there was one he was particularly concerned about.

"Ah, Naruto…can you wait a second?"

The blond thirteen year old stared at him curiously as the rest of the class left the room. It wasn't unusual for him to pulled up for 'extra' lessons, but the look on Iruka's face said it was something different this time.

Letting out a short sigh he reached into his pocket and placed a pair of black lace underwear on the desk in front of him. He pouted and crossed his arms angrily.

"I want it on the record that I won the bet. Kiba didn't think I was going to get within one hundred metres."

Iruka's eyes widened as he stared at the exotic underwear now sitting on his desk. "Naruto…whose are these?"

Naruto gave him a confused look. "They are Anko-sensei's. You knew about the competition between me and Kiba, right?"

Using a ruler as delicately as possible, Iruka picked up the underwear and examined them with a slight reddening under his cheeks.

_He stole Anko's panties, and is still walking? _

"Yes well…ignoring that…for the moment…I want to talk about your grades."

Naruto simply rolled his eyes and sat on a desk opposite Iruka's, swinging his legs in the air like the child he was. It wasn't the first time he had been yelled at for his bad grades, even though he hadn't been through a graduation examination yet.

Placing the underwear in his desk drawer, and praying that Anko wouldn't be able to trace them to him until he returned them, Iruka placed his hands on his desk and stared at his student. Naruto had taken to wearing a ridiculous orange jacket as an apparent 'homage' to his mother's red hair and his father's blonde hair. At least that was his excuse when someone pointed out his odd choice in clothing.

"Naruto…as you know the exam is tomorrow."

He waited to see if Naruto was going to interject with something, but when it became clear he wasn't Iruka cleared his throat and continued.

"Naruto, you are not a good student. I know why you don't get good grades."

"Because the teachers hate me?" Naruto did feel like he was treated differently from the other students, but he didn't really believe he was any different.

"It's because you are an idiot."

"Hey!"

Iruka put up his hands defensively. "Let me finish. I've seen you in class, and have personally taught you for three years. There are some things you get really easily. But lots of things are hard for you to understand, because you aren't that kind of shinobi."

Naruto frowned and stared at his teacher. "Are you saying I can't be a shinobi?"

"Not at all. I'm just warning you…it could take a while. Not everyone graduates the first time."

Hopping down from his desk, Naruto stubbornly placed his hands on his hips. "Iruka-sensei, I swore that I was going to become Hokage. The teme will definitely graduate, and I refuse to lose to someone like that. Can you at least tell me what I need to do to graduate?"

_He's pleading…damnit there has to be something I can do._

Iruka reaching across his desk and grabbed a piece of paper, reading it quickly before turning to the blonde child. "Naruto, to pass the exam you need to show that you can do two ninjutsu techniques proficiently. Failing that, you need to show exceptional prowess in another area such as genjutsu or taijutsu to show that you are fit to be a shinobi."

"Well I know the Henge no Jutsu. That one is easy. But I don't know any other one!"

_He always failed at Bunshin no Jutsu. I'm not sure if it is a lack of understanding about the technique, or just a lack of talent…_

He put the paper down and let out a short sigh. "I'm sorry Naruto; there isn't anything I can do. Unless you can learn another ninjutsu by tomorrow, I can't let you graduate."

His blonde student glared at him angrily, he clearly thought he was being treated unfairly by the teacher. The truth was, he was. Iruka had been given a 'suggestion' by the other teachers to simply graduate him and let his Jounin instructor sort him out, but Iruka had a different opinion.

_He lost his parents in the Kyuubi attack, same as me. If he isn't prepared for the shinobi world…then I wouldn't be able to call myself a teacher. _

"Isn't there something I can do? Some technique I can learn really quickly so that I can become a shinobi? Iruka-sensei maybe something you couldn't show the other kids?"

Iruka smiled sadly.

_Would that I could, Naruto_

"I'm sorry, Naruto. The techniques I know are too advanced to be learned in a day. I'm afraid there is no easy way to become a shinobi. It's not as if there is a magic scroll that will teach you powerful techniques without large amounts of training and effort involved."

Naruto faced scowled for a moment before changing to a confused look. He didn't say anything, but Iruka could tell he was clearly thinking about something. Slowly a smile came across Naruto's face and he took his hands off his hips. "You just gave me an idea, Iruka-sensei!"

He moved to the door with a casual wave and his characteristic grin. "I'll be back tomorrow for the graduation! Save me a forehead protector, Iruka-sensei!"

The scarred teacher watched in surprise as Naruto ran out of the room, unable to understand what he could have said to inspire such confidence in the boy.

_Maybe I could have taught him something. Setting off explosion notes isn't too hard, and still qualifies…_

He almost went to chase after Naruto, until a thought stopped him in his tracks.

_If he is to grow as a shinobi…he needs to figure some things out on his own. If he actually does manage to pass…I'll be amazed. Though to be fair, his parents actually did give him a lot of talent. I think it's just a matter of finding the way to using that talent. _

He sighed against and leaned back in his chair, staring at the drawer in his desk. It took him a moment to remember what was contained within, and he could feel an odd sense of impending doom around him.

Picking up the same ruler he had used before, he opened the drawer and removed the underwear with the ruler, staring at them curiously. He knew Anko had a seductive set of lingerie, but something like this was truly impressive. How Naruto and Kiba knew about her, let alone being able to steal her underwear was something beyond him understanding.

"Hello, Iruka."

The Chuunin teacher felt the blood drain out of his body as he slowly turned to the doorway. Standing with a sly grin on her face was the owner of the underwear at the end of his ruler. Her violet eyes stared at him with an amused look on her face while she seemed to be almost busting out of the tight mesh body suit beneath her tan-coloured overcoat.

He immediately dropped the ruler and put up his hands in a defensive stance. "Anko, I swear I wasn't the one who…I didn't…"

Her grin widened as she licked her lips and slowly closed the door behind her. "Come now, Iruka. Let's have a…quiet conversation…"

_I lived a good life…at least it might be a quick death. _

He watched as she walked seductively towards him, her purple hair shaking slightly with each step.

_There are three exits in this room. The front is blocked, but I might be able to distract her with an explosion or something before I get slaughtered. Damnit I should have stayed home today…_

* * *

Naruto bounded across the rooftops in the village towards the place that he knew Sasuke was going to be training in. While the Kyuubi attack had destroyed the Uchiha compound, many of their training grounds were still intact, and were only frequented by the younger of the Uchiha brothers. Since becoming a shinobi Itachi almost refused to go to that part of Konoha, and as he had explained it to the two of them it was because he had only barely escaped the Kyuubi's blast with Sasuke in his arms. Every time he saw the ruined complex it brought back those awful memories, and that Naruto understood.

After a few minutes of searching he found Sasuke practising his techniques in a dense forest covered in targets. The young Uchiha had just completed a set of shuriken techniques and was concentrating on controlling chakra when he sensed Naruto's presence. Even though he wasn't a shinobi yet, sensing Naruto was easy enough. He always seemed to make a lot of noise.

"What do you want?" he asked bluntly, his hands still clasped in a handseal.

Naruto landed beside him and breathed out slowly. "I just came from talking to Iruka-sensei. He said that to pass the exam tomorrow we need to know two or more ninjutsu techniques."

His friend put down his hands and glared at his friend, he hated it when Naruto interrupted his training for his own problems. "Well that screws you up. It's a shame that you are such an idiot."

Naruto clenched his fist and stepped towards the Uchiha boy. "You want to go, teme? I'll take you down right here!"

Sasuke grinned and cocked his head slightly. "Baaaakkkaaaaa"

It wasn't anything new between the two of them, but Sasuke was quite surprised when Naruto failed to rise to his usually successful taunt.

_Something serious must be on his mind. _

Naruto struggled to keep himself under control and leaned on a nearby tree with crossed arms. "Iruka-sensei spoke about how there are some scrolls that might have techniques I can learn in a day, so that I can pass the exam."

"Baka, it took you a year and a half to get the Henge no Jutsu right, and every time you make an adult you always go to that naked woman figure."

"I could totally do it! I even know what I'm going to look at. It's a scroll in the Hokage's office. I overheard a few Jounin chatting about it the last time I got caught for a prank."

"So go get it. I fail to see why you are bothering me with this."

Naruto swallowed heavily, he struggled heavily on what he was going to say next. Sasuke knew what he was going to say, they had been 'friends' for too long for him not to tell how the blonde idiot was thinking.

He was, of course, going to make him say it though.

Closing his eyes in an attempt to mitigate the incoming pain, Naruto breathed out again slowly.

"I…uh…kind of…need…you know."

"I'm sorry; I don't understand what you are talking about, Naruto."

Naruto opened his eyes and glared at the younger Uchiha. "You're going to make me say it?"

"Yep."

"Teme. I...need your help."

A shadow of a grin came onto Sasuke's face before he adopted his usual stoic face. "Well, if you are so desperate. I suppose I can organise a time to assist you. Sometime next week?"

He ducked under the inevitable punch to his face, jumping back with a smirk. "What do you need me for?"

Naruto swore at him and pointed at his friend. "I really could do this by myself. But I need a distraction, and you are someone I'd be willing to sacrifice."

"Touching. We should tell Itachi though. He's going to find out anyway, and he might be able to help."

"He's in the ANBU; wouldn't he be obligated to tell the Hokage if we are planning to steal a sacred scroll?"

Sasuke shook his head before reaching into his shirt and produced a blank scroll, throwing it to his blonde companion. "We won't be stealing it. Just copying it. Itachi will be fine with that."

Naruto stared at the scroll in his hand before slowly nodding and pocketing it. It made more sense than his idea of putting a fake scroll in its place. "You have too much faith in your brother, Sasuke."

His dark-eyed companion frowned and spun around, glaring at him angrily. "Itachi is all I've got, Naruto. We've spoken about this before, I don't want you bad-mouthing him."

Putting his hands up defensively, Naruto tried to look as sorry as possible. "I didn't mean it like that, Sasuke. I live with the man too; I know how much he has done for you."

The younger Uchiha shoved past him and began to walk towards the rest of the village. Naruto grinned and jogged after him, reminding the child that they had limited time.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time they got back to the house in the village. Since Itachi had been making a reasonable living as an ANBU shinobi he and Sasuke had begun living in a reasonably sized house near the Academy. Naruto had been given a small house in the village to live by himself, but because of his social nature he spent more time in Sasuke's house than his own. Neither of them would ever admit their friendship to one another, but Naruto preferred sparring with Sasuke than any of the other students at the Academy.

The two of them announced themselves at the entrance, but with no response they took their shoes off and walked through the long corridor in the Uchiha household.

"We've got to be quick; I've only got to tomorrow to learn another technique."

They turned a corner as Sasuke gave Naruto a shifty look. "I'm not doing this for you, baka. If you can learn something off this scroll, then so should I."

Naruto smirked, "I dunno, I reckon only a Hokage's son would be able to learn such 'advanced' techniques."

"An Uchiha is much stronger than a Namikaze. Everyone knows that."

Naruto wanted to sledge back at him, but stopped himself when he saw that they had come to the door to Itachi's bedroom. He swallowed slowly and turned to his companion. "Do we really have to tell your brother? I don't think he'll let us just sneak into the office without a lecture first."

Sasuke ignored Naruto's concern and grabbed the handle on the door, quickly sliding it across.

"Brother, Naruto and I…"

His sentence drifted off when he saw what was happening within his brother's bedroom. To her credit, the girl underneath the sheets didn't seem to be too startled by their sudden intrusion. The elder Uchiha on top of her had an entirely different reaction though. His dark eyes widened and with a wave of his free hand he sent dozens of loud crows at the two boys who were struggling to shield their eyes and failing as they stared at the girl's naked body.

The crows drove them out of the room quickly and closed the door behind them, the two of them grimacing as they felt the pecking marks on their arms and faces.

A puff of smoke appeared in front of them as a particularly angry-looking Itachi stood with his arms crossed and his red-coloured Sharingan blaring. He had no need to activate the doujutsu besides to intimidate them, which it always did to a large extent.

"How many times do I need to remind you to knock?" he said angrily.

Sasuke stared at his brother meekly. "It…wasn't intentional, Nii-san. We just need your help, and…wait was that Kanako?"

Naruto looked at the brothers with confusion. "Kanako?"

The elder Uchiha stared at the two of them before sighing and deactivating his Sharingan. "I suppose I wasn't going to be able to hide from you any longer. Yes, Kanako and I are seeing each other."

"Brother…she's a Senju. Are you sure that's smart?"

Itachi grinned, which was always a frightening image to the two of them. "Sasuke, why are you here? Shouldn't you be training for your exam tomorrow?"

His brother turned to Naruto and indicated for him to proceed. The blond child looked up at the ANBU shinobi before staring at the door behind him. "Isn't she wondering why you are standing out here with us?"

Itachi cocked his head ever so slightly at him. "What makes you think I'm not in there now?"

Naruto ooed and looked at him with respect while Sasuke simply shook in his head. "Brother, we need that scroll that lets you copy anything. Can we borrow it?"

Itachi gave his brother a deep frown. "Why do you need that?"

His brother looked over at Naruto, who quickly understood what his friend was trying to do. He smiled awkwardly at Itachi. "I need to copy Sasuke's notes…but there are too many for me to look at without him helping me..."

Itachi stared at the two of them intently, waiting to see any potential physical reactions from the two of them. It impressed him that Sasuke was barely giving anything away, despite Naruto being about as subtle as a dog standing over its own faeces. Eventually he shrugged and flicked a wrist, producing a seemingly blank scroll from his jacket. He gave it Sasuke carefully.

"The two of you are so full of crap. Take it and be gone. And Sasuke…next time knock."

They went to thank him, but the clone of Itachi had already disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke showed Naruto the scroll before pocketing it and began walking back to the entrance to their house. Moving quickly to catch up with him, Naruto whispered quietly to him. "You didn't tell your brother about what we are doing."

"He knows" replied the younger Uchiha quietly. "We needed this scroll for the techniques that might be contained within the other scroll; somehow I don't think we'll have much time either."

They walked out of the house and closed the door behind them. Naruto grinned as he remembered something, turning to Sasuke quickly. "Did you get a look at her body?"

"I'm not talking about this, Naruto."

"Oh, come on! Surely you must have noticed that mole on her…"

Sasuke rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke slowly walked up to the Hokage's office, trying to look inconspicuous to the passing shinobi. They knew that the Hokage was having tea with his grandson and was out of his office, which was part of their plan.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Naruto. It wasn't the first time he had snuck into the office, but he felt like it was more important than the other times he had pranked the old man.

"Just shut up and let me do the talking" replied Sasuke.

Naruto gave him a glare, but conceded that he was had a better plan than Naruto's, which involved smashing the window and barricading the door.

They finally made it to the corridor outside the Hokage's office without confrontation, but to their frustration there were two ANBU guards standing in front of the door.

"What are we going to do?" whispered Naruto. He was only good at running away from the ANBU, not fighting them.

Sasuke gave him his usual shut-your-mouth look and stepped up to the ANBU warriors, giving them a respectful bow. "Excuse me; we are here to speak to Hokage-sama."

The ANBU warrior with a bird-like mask looked down at him. Standing behind Sasuke, Naruto wondered how they could see anything through those masks, let alone breathing.

"The Hokage is out of his office at the moment."

"He won't be back for a while" added the other ANBU, wearing a feline-like mask.

Sasuke bowed again, "We were given an informal meeting with the Hokage to discuss the Academy exam. He said for us to wait for him in his office."

The two ANBU stared at him for a few seconds before looking at each other.

"He didn't say anything to me."

"Me neither. What should we do?"

"They are just kids, they won't cause any harm."

"I dunno, that blonde one is generally trouble."

"That's probably why the Hokage wants to talk to them."

"I don't want to get a lecture from the Hokage though. I hate the smoke from his pipe."

"It's not so bad, once you get used to it. It kind of has a tangy-smell to it…"

The two ANBU guards shrugged simultaneously before turning to the two children and indicated to the door. "You can wait for him inside. Don't touch anything."

"Yes sir" said Sasuke with an expressionless face, walking through the newly opened door with Naruto following behind him.

They closed the door behind them and they both breathed out a sigh of relief. Sasuke began looking around the office for the scroll while Naruto walked over to the desk and sat down on the Hokage's chair.

"That was close" he said, spinning around on the chair with a grin.

Sasuke stopped rifling through a bookshelf and glared at his companion. "Stop playing around and help me look."

"Hang on…" Naruto opened up a drawer in the Hokage's desk, oooing as he produced the Hokage's hat, placing it quickly on top of his head.

He hopped up on the desk and placed his hands on the cuffs of his jacket.

"Four score and seven years ago…"

"Naruto, you look ridiculous."

He grinned and pointed to the hat on his head. "Ridiculous like a fox."

Sasuke shook his head and muttered under his breath. "Baka."

They had talked about what they were looking for before coming to the office. All Naruto knew was that it was a large scroll that should stand out, beyond that it was all guesswork.

He kept searching the bookshelves until a few minutes later he shook his head and stepped back to look at the office. It was particularly clean for such a busy office, and fitting for the leader of a shinobi village, Sasuke thought.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn around with a frustrated look on his face. "What?!"

Naruto grinned and hefted a large scroll between his arms. "Found it."

"Where the hell did you find that?"

He pointed to a section of the wall next to a crystal ball sitting on a cushion. "It was there. I'm pretty sure this is the one we are looking for."

Sasuke glared at him with contempt, but produced his brother's scroll nonetheless. Naruto unfurled the scroll on top of the Hokage's desk, while Sasuke placed the smaller scroll on top of it.

Nothing happened.

Naruto turned to Sasuke with a frown. "Oi, nothing's happening."

The younger Uchiha shook his head and put a hand on the scroll, pushing through a small amount of chakra into the blank paper. Instantly the scroll began to fill with information identical to that from the larger scroll, which Sasuke clarified while it was transferring.

After almost a minute the scroll was full, with all the information they were going to get now under their control. Sasuke rolled up the scroll and placed it in his pocket as Naruto stared at the open scroll on the desk. Most of the information inside made no sense to him.

"Are you sure everything is in there?"

"Put the scroll back quickly, while I figure out how to get out of the office."

Naruto glared at him, but wrapped it up and put it back where he found it nonetheless. "So what's the plan?"

Sasuke looked around the office for a few seconds before he laid his eyes on the window. He turned to his blonde companion, "Follow me."

* * *

"Come on, show me!"

"Quit pushing me, Naruto! Give me a second!"

The young Uchiha unfurled the scroll on a smooth rock between the two of them at the Uchiha training ground. They'd made a clean getaway from the Hokage's office with no traces let for the Hokage to suspect anything.

Sasuke looked over the first technique in the scroll, recognising it as one of Itachi's techniques.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Creating clones out of raw chakra that are solid and can attack enemies."

He stared at Naruto for a second.

"Shotgun!" yelled Naruto quickly.

"Shotgun…damnit…" Sasuke rolled his eyes in disgust and let Naruto look at the scroll. "Hurry up and take notes so I can do the next one."

"You don't want to learn the Kage Bunshin too?"

"I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon than do the same technique as you."

Naruto stared at him with a confused look before turning back to the scroll. "Maybe later…"

He looked over the information on the technique. It appeared to be relatively simple, even to the extent that he could understand it.

_All I need to do is produce a large amount of chakra and…okay that makes sense. I guess I just need to practise with that handseal. _

"Do you know how to do it?" asked Sasuke.

"I…think so. I just need to…"

"I don't care. Go and practise, I want to find a technique to learn."

Naruto mumbled under his breath, but went off to another section of the training ground nonetheless, leaving Sasuke to his own devices. The young Uchiha looked through the scroll, trying to find a technique that would be appropriate to his growing library of techniques.

_Kage Bunshin…Advanced genjutsu…Fire manipulation…Demonic sealing techniques…_

They were all interesting techniques, but there was a picture on the scroll that drew Sasuke's attention. Even though it had been transferred from one scroll to this one, the name of technique had been scratched out and the instructions were barely legible. Underneath a piece of text was a faded picture of a bird that seemed to be on fire, though reading the text that didn't make sense to him.

"All this effort and it seems like they didn't know how to activate the technique. Fascinating…"

He ran through the handseals indicated on the scroll and placing his hand on top of the scroll.

At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds a plume of smoke slowly rose from the scroll, forcing him to jump a few steps cautiously.

The smoke grew in length for several seconds until a massive burst of flames exploded upwards, blinding him temporarily with its light. Sasuke struggled to regain his vision as he felt an intense warmth wash over him. The technique hadn't mentioned anything to this degree; he wasn't even sure what it actually was.

He heard a strange female voice through his ears, but it took him a few moments to recognise the words she was saying.

"Ah, my neck is killing me! Oh, sorry about the sight. Let me fix that for you."

He heard a snapping of her fingers, and upon opening his eyes he found that his sight had returned. He looked up and saw a figure sitting on top of the scroll. It was clearly female, and had a distinct attractive quality to it, but that's where the human qualities ended.

She had clawed feet and was covered in red feathers, with her claws for hands rubbing her feathered neck. Sasuke noticed that she had a long beak, and was staring at him with the most intense blood red eyes he'd ever seen.

"Who…what are you?" he stammered. Sasuke wasn't used to being intimidated, but there was something about her fiery presence that was humbling to him.

Despite having a beak, he could tell that she was grinning at him. He thought it was strange that a bird-like creature didn't have wings, but upon looking closer he saw that the air around her back seemed to be burning up in the image of a pair of wings behind her.

"Want to try again?" Her voice seemed to burn through his ears, but Sasuke wasn't hurt by it.

He picked himself up from the ground and gave her a rigid bow. "My…my name is Uchiha Sasuke. I…am not sure what I'm doing here, to be honest."

"Hmm…how strange. One would think you were here to sign my summoning contract. But if that doesn't interest you…"

_Summoning scroll? Is that like Itachi and his crows? I've never heard of anything like this though. _

"If you don't mind me asking, what summoning creature group are you?"

She crossed her clawed legs and swept up her arms, letting a pair of fire-like wings spread out behind her. "I am a hawk. I like your bluntness kid, it's refreshing. I think I'll let my children work with you."

A small burst of fire appeared in front of him, turning into a large scroll that unrolled on its own. Sasuke noticed that there were lots of empty columns across it, with only one name on the right with a bloody handprint. He looked up at her with a confused look, but nonetheless bit at his thumb and wrote his name down the column before tapping each of his fingers and placing his handprint on the scroll.

"So, now what?"

With a wave of her hand the scroll wrapped itself up before disappearing in a small fire.

_Don't things normally burn up in fire? Since when do they appear and disappear like that?_

The bird-woman hopped off the rock and stretched her neck awkwardly. "It's called practise, boy. You clearly know the seals, so however much chakra you put it will determine who turns up. I must warn you, some of my children are less than approachable."

"And your name is?"

"Don't have one. Unlike the others, I don't feel the need. My enemies call me the Phoenix, while my children call me Mother. So…you can call me Mummy."

Sasuke stared at her through dark eyes as she disappeared in a pillar of fire. He looked down to see that despite the fire the scroll he had learnt the summoning technique from was still intact.

"Yeah…I'm not doing that."

oOoOoOo

Naruto looked up and down at the clone in front of him, staring as if he was analysing a bowl of ramen.

"I'm not sure about this. I think the proportions are off."

The long-haired blonde girl reached up and felt at her chest. "Too big?"

Naruto shook his head and looked over her smooth skin. "It's not that…I'm just not sure about blonde hair. I reckon it would have more impact with darker hair, and lighter eyes."

"That's oddly specific. Someone in mind?"

"Just a few thoughts. Wait…why am I arguing with my clone? Let's go back to see how the teme is doing. I'll bet he hasn't even started learning his technique."

The naked girl clone of Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke as Naruto ran through the tree line. It was late at night, and training all night had tired him out significantly.

After a few minutes he saw Sasuke standing in an open area of the training ground, watching in fascination as a small brown hawk flew around above him in a circle.

Naruto didn't recognise the bird, which would mean that it was something not indigenous to Konoha. Sasuke noticed his presence and turned to him with an odd look. "Were you able to complete your technique?"

His blonde companion grinned and pointed to his forehead dramatically. "I swore I was going to become Hokage, and that's what I'll do."

"It was just a simple question, Naruto. I didn't ask about being Hokage. Nobody ever does."

Naruto grinned at him nonetheless, answering Sasuke's question without a word. The Uchiha put up a hand and let the small hawk land on it. He wasn't one for attachment to animals, but there was something about the brown hawk with exotic marks on its feathers that he found rather intriguing.

"This is what I learnt."

"How to summon a bird? Bahahahaha!" Naruto fell on his rear end with a loud roar of laughter.

Sasuke snarled and commanded the hawk to return back to its world, causing it to disappear in a small puff of smoke. He turned to the laughing child and placed his hands together quietly.

Naruto struggled to pick himself up from the ground, wiping his eyes with a massive grin.

"That's too fu…"

A giant fireball came screaming towards him, burning up parts of the trees around him.

"Oh shiiiiittttt!"

* * *

**Author's Note**:

So a general synopsis for this story. Nobody besides the Hokage knows that Naruto has the Kyuubi within him. The Uchiha were destroyed by the Kyuubi beside Itachi and Sasuke. Naruto wasn't shunned by the populace, but not having any family has given him perspective on loneliness, but his character is a little bit different from the original nonetheless.

I can also say that this story won't be following in the main story's footsteps. Every mission will be original from my mind, perhaps with shoutouts and elements of the main story but nonetheless original. There are plenty of stories like that out already.

This story is essentially an excuse for me to explore the characters is a different environment than my other story The Wanderers, and have fun with them. If you are looking for a more serious story, then I suggest reading that one. I also want to use this story to try and get characters like Sakura right, since I don't think she's been given justice in the original story.

I can't give a reasonable estimate on how often the chapters for this will come out. My main priority is still The Wanderers, particularly considering how much more that story still has to go. I'll try for every fortnight or such, but no promises.

Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each reasonable review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.


	2. Chapter 2 Sitting in a Tree

**Brothers Beyond Blood**

Chapter 2 – Sitting in a Tree

**A/N**: One of my aims in this story is to keep within the basic world of the pre-timeskip Naruto. When techniques took a while to learn, and kunai were actually dangerous.

And I know this is still setup, but I have tried to put some personal spin on it.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the female characters would be properly done characters.

* * *

Sitting on a bench outside the testing room, Naruto fiddled with his fingers nervously. Sasuke had just gone in to do his test, and only he and the blonde girl who obsessed over Sasuke were left to be tested.

He looked up as he heard the door open, with his Uchiha companion smirked with his hands in his pockets as he walked in front of Naruto.

"Well?"

Sasuke shrugged, "If it's just the two of you left, I'll have Rookie of the Year in the bag."

"That's just because you did well in those written tests. I don't understand why we need to do those kind of things."

His Uchiha companion shrugged again and indicated to the door, ignoring the blissful gaze the blonde girl sitting beside Naruto was giving him. "You're up, baka. I expect you to pass, unless all your boasting is just hot air."

Naruto grinned and stood up, standing face-to-face with Sasuke. "And let you have all the fun? Not a chance. I'll see you at the ceremony."

"Hmm, we'll see."

oOoOoOo

Naruto walked into the room with an odd sense of confidence, nodding with a grin to the two Chuunin instructors that were taking the test. He recognised Iruka-sensei, though he wondered why he was standing behind the table as opposed to sitting down beside the white-haired Chuunin instructor that he didn't recognise.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I am Mizuki-sensei. We will be your examiners for this last part of your examination."

He indicated to the teacher standing beside him, "You already know Iruka-sensei. He would sit down…but he is currently incapable of doing so."

Iruka glared down at his fellow teacher, "You don't have to say that to every student, Mizuki."

"Is something wrong, Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto, attempting to act as innocent as possible.

The teacher pointed an accusing finger at his blonde student. "It's your damn fault, Naruto! If you hadn't…" He took a step forward and grimaced, holding his backside tenderly. "It doesn't matter. You know why you are here, Naruto?"

The son of the Fourth Hokage grinned as he pointed to his forehead dramatically. "Of course! Get that forehead protector ready, I'm gonna be a ninja!"

At the table, Mizuki smirked and placed his hands together on the table. "We shall see. The rules of this test are simple. You are to demonstrate the ninjutsu that you know, and we will give you a ranking based on that. If you can reach a certain level, then we will pass you. If not, then you will have to wait until next time."

Placing a hand on top of the paper containing Naruto's details, Iruka looked at his student with concern. "Naruto I…right, let's start the test."

They both indicated for him to start, as they brought out pens to make his score. In front of them Naruto grinned and placed up his hands in a basic handseal. He summoned a reasonable amount of chakra and activated the technique.

"Henge!" (Transform)

A large cloud of smoke covered him completely, though the two teachers reserved judgement until they saw the result of the technique. The smoke quickly dissipated as a long set of blonde ponytails appeared from within.

The two teachers' eyes widened as they saw a beautiful young woman walk out of the grey smoke, grinning at them seductively while placing her hands on her hips.

She was, of course, completely naked from head to toe.

Both the Chuunin teachers immediately put their hands to their faces, feeling a spurt of blood pouring through their fingers as they stared up and down the woman's figure.

"Alright…Naruto…you made your point. Transform back…please…" said Iruka, trying and failing to wipe his bloody hands on his pants.

The young woman pouted before disappearing in a large puff of smoke, which Naruto subsequently walked out of, grinning happily. "Was that good?"

Mizuki frantically wrote on his examination paper, while sniffing to get rid of the blood smell from his nose. "That was…inspired. The detail on the body was particularly impressive. Did you have a model that you based it on?"

The blonde student shrugged and placed his hands on the back of his head, "I dunno. It just kind of came to me."

Iruka nodded and wrote down on his own paper before turning back to Naruto. "Yes well, as impressive as it was…it is only a Henge. That isn't enough to pass the test however. Do you have any other techniques?"

Naruto's grin widened, his hands already in another handseal. The two Chuunin didn't immediately recognise the handseal, but as a puff of smoke appeared beside the blonde student they understood what he had performed.

The smoke cleared as a perfectly identical clone of Naruto appeared beside him, standing in the exact same way as the blonde student was.

Both of the instructors nodded as they examined the clone, unable to see the difference between the two of them.

Iruka wrote down a note on his test paper before looking up at the two Naruto's, hiding his surprise that Naruto was able to pull off a clone that he had previously failed to do. "It is a good Bunshin…but only one isn't enough. Everyone else was able to produce at least three clones, Naruto-kun. Is this the best you can do?"

Both the Naruto clones stared at the teacher with their mouths hung wide open. "What? But I spent all of last night training this technique! Are you telling me it's not good enough?"

Being the hyperactive type, Naruto had misheard what Iruka said, but was still confident.

Iruka let out a sigh and put the test paper on the desk in front of him, having still been unable to sit down since the previous day. He shook his head, knowing that this was going to happen. "Naruto…the point of the Bunshin technique is to distract the enemy long enough for the real shinobi to attack and damage the enemy. Your clone is adequate, but this isn't enough."

"Eh? Is that all?" The Naruto clones looked at each other for a moment before placed their hands up into the same handseal as before.

It finally clicked in the white haired teacher, as he put up his hands to stop Naruto from activating the technique again. "Wait a second, Naruto-kun. Iruka, look at the clone's feet."

Iruka frowned at Mizuki, "I don't understand, what am I…"

His sentence ran off as he looked where Mizuki had indicated, his eyes widening as he looked up at the Naruto's in amazement. "They…are both real. Naruto-kun, what technique did you learn last night?"

Both the clones had shadows, something a regular Bunshin didn't have.

The Naruto on their left grinned and put his hands on his hips. "It's a type of Bunshin, right? What does it matter?"

Walking around the table, Iruka frowned as he placed a hand on each of the Naruto's shoulders, confirming his original observation from the shadows at each of their feet.

"Naruto-kun, this is a very advanced form of the Bunshin technique, called Kage Bunshin. Each clone is a physical entity that has its own chakra base and can use its own techniques. But…you knew that, didn't you?"

The clone on the right grinned widely before disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving only one Naruto in front of his teacher. "Maybe. Does this mean I pass?"

"Naruto, I have to ask…how many Kage Bunshin can you create?"

"I dunno. A few dozen…why?"

Iruka let out a sigh and placed his hand on Naruto's head. "And you didn't make any more now…why?"

His blonde student shrugged with a grin, "I didn't think I had to. Did I do well enough to pass?"

The Chuunin teacher let out another sigh and walked back to the table, looking at Mizuki with a serious expression. The two of them whispered quietly to each other before looking back at Naruto, both of them smiling widely.

* * *

Taking a long drag from his pipe, the Third Hokage looked down at the details that had been placed in front of him. He'd assembled the three Jounin who would be looking after the new Genin, as well as the primary examiner from the Academy.

His eyes scanned over the pictures of the graduating students, smiling slowly as he saw the ridiculous photo of Naruto on the page. "Ah, little Naruto made it too. This is a very impressive line-up of students you have assembled here, Iruka."

The single Chuunin in the room smiled with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. It looks like it's going to be that kind of generation. I'm just grateful this isn't a time of war."

The Hokage nodded slowly before pushing the paper across his desk. "We have a problem though. There are ten graduates, but only three Jounin to make teams of three each."

From his position next to the wall, a smoking Jounin leaned his head back to blow out a puff of smoke, "That's unusual. Isn't there usually a clear dispersal of numbers when it comes to new Genin?"

A young female Jounin wearing a set of rose-like bandages over a mesh shirt stared at the smoking one with a suspicious gaze, "That would be odd. Does this mean one of the Genin will have to go back to the Academy?"

The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair, taking another drag from his pipe. "That can be arranged. It would have to be the Genin who graduated with the worst grades." He pulled back the paper and ran through the numbers, "That would be Naruto, I believe."

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I can't accept that" said Iruka. He walked forward to the Hokage's desk and indicated to the section dedicated to Naruto's results. "Naruto might have had the worst grades, but look at his ninjutsu examination. Not only that, but considering his personality I would say he has great potential. We cannot waste the effort he made in graduating."

The Hokage nodded in agreement. "All these children made considerable efforts to become Genin. It would be unseemly of us to deny one of them their hard work purely because the numbers don't fit."

"So what will you do?" asked Iruka, wary of the fact he was being quite insubordinate to the village leader.

The Jounin with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth stepped forward with his arms crossed. "I have already chosen my team, Hokage-sama. In the name of Sarutobi Asuma, I would train and work with Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino."

Staring at the Jounin, the Hokage put his pipe into his holder and held up the sheet of paper. "Still continuing that tradition, Asuma? Fair enough, they are yours. It is the other seven that we must work out. If indeed we are to have all of these graduates become Genin, then there must be a team of four."

He looked over the other two Jounin in the room. There was the woman covered in bandages, who he knew to be a recently promoted elite shinobi. However there was the other Jounin standing near the door, reading a book silently.

_I can never tell when he is paying attention or not. _

Looking back at the female Jounin, the Hokage let out a slow breath. "Kurenai, I won't ask you to do something that drastic, since you were recently promoted. That leaves the four man team to you, Kakashi."

The masked Jounin reading the book put it down slightly while looking the Hokage through his single visible eye. "If that is your wish…Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Kakashi. Now let's sort out the teams. Kurenai, you expressed an interest in creating a specialist-based team. To that end, I would have you train Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata."

Kurenai nodded her acknowledgement, while the Hokage continued.

"I believe that Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke have had a developing friendship for some time, so their teamwork would be at a higher level. They would then be backed up by the intelligence of Haruno Sakura, who performed exceptionally well on the intelligence-side of her studies. The three of them would then…"

"That won't work."

Everyone in the room turned to Kakashi, who still had his nose in the book between his hands. Even underneath his mask, his voice was clear and precise, though his eye still read his book intensely.

"Is something wrong with our analysis, Kakashi?" asked the Hokage, staring at the Jounin.

"I have no problem with a four man team. It could actually be a benefit on missions, as the enemy would not expect the fourth member. However the make-up of my team is questionable."

Recognising the Jounin's experience, the Hokage indicated for him to continue, though it was questionable whether it was noticed or not.

"The top fighters with the most combat potential in this generation are Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Fiore. Having the two of them all on one team is both unnecessary, and hazardous to the other teams."

Kurenai nodded in agreement, "I also have a concern over my team. While I did ask for a more specialised team, from the information provided, I think my team would be stronger with a combat specialist on the team."

The Hokage leaned forward and placed his hands together on the desk in front of him. Normally teams were worked out fairly easily; it was rare for something like this to happen. He picked up his pipe again and relit it with a flame from his finger. It was a particularly difficult ninjutsu to maintain a flame with such precision, but it was nothing he wasn't used to.

He let out a long smoke-filled breath and looked back down at the sheet on his desk.

* * *

Sasuke frowned and stared at the girl in front of him with a mixture of boredom and annoyance.

"What do you want?"

Standing in front of the young Uchiha, the spiky-haired Senju girl flicked a wooden staff between her fingers. "I heard you got Rookie of the Year. Congratulations."

"Thanks" replied Sasuke sarcastically. "I get the impression you aren't happy with the result."

Fiore scoffed and tapped her wooden staff on her shoulder, "I really don't care about something childish like that. You and I both know that real skill is determined on the battlefield."

Sasuke glared at her impatiently, he was going to be late to meet his brother. "What's your point, Senju?"

"My point, Uchiha, is that you shouldn't get cocky. If we are on the same team together, I'll beat you into the ground."

He clenched a fist slowly, relishing the idea of fighting someone like her. They had avoided sparring during their time at the Academy, mostly due to the Chuunin teachers' fears that they would cause a significant amount of destruction while doing so.

"You shouldn't get cocky either. There is a reason why the Uchiha are respected so much."

Fiore laughed and placed her staff on the ground, "Not as much as the Senju. Look, I just came here to warn you. Go about your business."

He stared at her purple eyes, seeing the same fierce gaze that Naruto would give him before they would spar. Naruto had never truly beaten him, but Sasuke could at the very least respect him for trying, futile though it may be. Giving her a short tsk, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and walked away from her without another word.

Watching him walk into the village, Fiore cocked her head slightly and shrunk her wooden staff down to a long pick, placing it in her mouth quickly.

"I suspect that day will come, Uchiha. I hope you're ready."

* * *

Naruto grinned widely as he entered the classroom, wearing his new forehead protector proudly. He was the last to enter the room, and most of the room seemed surprised to see him.

Kiba leaned forward on his desk, staring at the blonde shinobi. "What are you doing here, Naruto? This meeting is for Genin only."

Pointing to his forehead protector, Naruto smiled proudly. "I am a Genin! Don't look down on me, Kiba!"

The white dog on top of Kiba's head barked loudly, causing the Inuzuka heir to let out a short sigh. "Fair point, Akamaru. I guess even people like that can become shinobi."

Naruto ignored Kiba and looked around the room. As he already knew, everyone else had passed. And unsurprisingly, Sasuke was the centre of attention of the two girls that had fawning for his affection since they had started classes at the Academy.

The only open seat left was near the back, next to a dark haired girl he didn't quite recognise. Seeing no harm in it, Naruto trotted up the staircase and took a seat beside the young Hyuuga heir. Hinata blushed terribly as she saw Naruto take his seat at the end of her desk. Her eyes stared straight down at her desk, as her fingers fiddled together slowly.

At the desk in front of Naruto, Sasuke turned back and gave Naruto his usual expressionless glare. "So, you made it. We were wondering why you didn't return home last night."

"Were you worried about me, Sasuke-chan?"

Sasuke scowled and placed a fist on top of Naruto's desk. "Don't make me come up there."

His blonde friend leaned back and stuck out his tongue, forcing the young Uchiha to resist the urge to reach out and rip it out of his mouth. Instead, he turned back to his desk and went about his usual business of ignoring the pink haired and long blonde haired girls that were fawning over him.

"Ano…Naruto-kun…"

Naruto turned at the quiet voice, seeing that the girl sitting beside him was a full beetroot red, and couldn't quite look at him.

Cocking his head questioningly, Naruto tried to look at her face, but saw it was slightly obscured by her blush, which he found rather impressive.

Hinata continued to fiddle with her fingers, attempting to summon up whatever confidence she could muster. With a not-so-inconsiderable effort, she turned to him with an embarrassed smile.

"I'm…ano…glad you…were able…to…"

Her pure white eyes tracked along his orange jacket, but the moment she saw his blue eyes staring at her, all the confidence in the world wouldn't have helped her as she felt a hot flush come across her head. She turned back and stared at her desk, unable to finish her sentence.

Naruto frowned, not understanding why she stopped mid-sentence. "That's…okay then…"

_What a weird girl. I feel like I've met her a few times…but she doesn't seem like someone memorable._

He turned back to the front and looked down next to Sasuke, seeing the pink-haired girl with a slow smile on his face. Ever since meeting her, Naruto had liked her, since she was so pretty. He, of course, had been wholly rejected for Sasuke, but that didn't stop Naruto from trying.

A Chuunin teacher walked into the room and shut the door, attempting to get the new Genin's attention without much luck.

"SHUT YOUR TRAPS!"

The room instantly quieted, as they usually did when an instructor called for quiet like this. He smiled and pulled out a sheet of paper, running a finger down the names.

"Here are your newly designated teams. Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru. You are designated Team 10. Your Jounin instructor will meet you at the top of the Hokage tower in thirty minutes."

The large Genin and the lazy Genin both shrugged while they made their way down the stairs. Sitting beside Sasuke, the blonde girl who had been called swore loudly and stood up from her seat. Instead of walking down with her new teammates, Ino pointed an accusing finger at her pink haired companion.

"Don't think this changes anything, forehead-girl! I'll bet you don't get on his team either!"

Sakura grinned and sat a little bit closer to the young Uchiha, "Try as you might, Ino-pig. You cannot compete with me anymore."

The Yamanaka heir snarled at her and went to grab at Sakura's shirt, but the Chuunin instructor yelled at her to go and join her new companions. Swearing again, she walked down to the front of the classroom and exited the room without another word.

"Well, now that that is over…" He ran down the sheet and looked over at the remaining Genin. "Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Senju Fiore. You are Team 8."

A murmur ran through the classroom, but the first voice to come through was the Inuzuka heir. "Oi, why are you reading the teams backwards?"

The Chuunin instructor took a step forward while pushing up a sleeve menacingly. "Do you want to go there, Inuzuka?"

Remembering the last time he had been 'disciplined', Kiba withdrew his question and stood up from his desk slowly, walking down to join the quiet Genin and the flashy Senju girl.

The remaining four Genin looked at each other questioningly. It seemed unusual for there to be four of them left, meaning they weren't sure what was going to happen with the last team.

Sakura appeared ecstatic over the idea of being in the same team as Sasuke, chatting away endlessly in his ear, though Sasuke paid her no attention.

_So the Senju and I will be on different teams. Good. That way she won't be slowing me down. _

Beside Naruto, Hinata couldn't quite help herself; she was over the moon at the idea of being on the same team as Naruto.

The blonde shinobi was also ecstatic, though it was because he liked the idea of being on the same team of Sakura.

However none of them were sure as to what was going to happen, as the Chuunin seemed confused at the four names remaining on his sheet. Just as he was going to tell them, the door opened slowly and to their surprise, the Hokage walked into the room, wearing his full getup.

"Thank you, Uruyu. I will inform the new Genin of the situation."

The Chuunin instructor bowed to the Hokage's leadership and indicated for the Hokage to take the centre of the room.

Coughing slightly into the hand, the Hokage looked over the faces of the new Genin in front of him.

_They look eager. I wonder if he is ready for this kind of responsibility. _

"This year we have decided to create a new form of shinobi team. The four of you are to work with your Jounin instructor, and carry out missions like normal. Each of you has your own set of skills and abilities, and this is to create a more efficient shinobi team."

He smiled as he saw Sakura's hand shoot up quickly. He indicated to her with his head, "Yes, Haruno-san. What is it?"

Sakura stood up from her seat. "I thought the four man team was designed for optimum efficiency. Three Genin and their Jounin teacher."

"That is correct, Haruno-san. However there have been many circumstances where a team has not had a specific skill to complete their mission, and one additional member may be able to fulfil that role."

The pink haired Genin sat down slowly, giving Sasuke a confused but happy look.

"So, are we that team then?" asked Naruto.

"Yes" replied the Hokage, indicating to the door with a hand. "Your Jounin instructor was meant to be here by now…but well, he isn't known for his punctuality."

He looked over at the four Genin and shrugged, disappearing in a cloud of smoke to leave them on their own.

"Well this is weird…" commented Naruto, standing up from his desk to stretch his arms.

In front of him Sasuke stood up as well, sitting on the desk to face his friend. "What do you think?"

Sakura smiled beside him as she placed her hands together. "It'll be great to work together, Sasuke-kun."

Ignoring her comments as he usually did, Sasuke let out his usual sigh. "We better not get someone weird."

The three of them watched as Naruto hopped down the stairs to the door. Seeing that she should get to know her new teammates better, Hinata stood up from her seat and bowed to her new companions.

"I…hope we get…along well together."

Sasuke frowned at the odd introduction, but nearly jumped as he heard a crash from behind them. Rolling his eyes as he figured what must have happened; Sasuke jumped over the desk and made his way down to the bottom. With a complete lack of surprise, Naruto was planted on the ground with his legs over his head, grinning widely at his Uchiha companion.

Sensing an opportunity, Sakura leaned forward and glared at Hinata. "If we are going to be on the same team, I need you to know something."

The young Hyuuga shirked back slightly, but nodded as she saw that it was clearly something very important to her.

Sakura placed a fist onto the desk in front of Hinata. "Sasuke-kun is mine. You cannot have him, so don't even try."

Hinata smiled awkwardly, pushing her fingers together slowly. "Ano…Sakura-san…I…um…I'm not interested in Sasuke-kun."

The pink haired shinobi's expression changed instantly, offering her hand to Hinata warmly. "Well that's good to know. I look forward to working with you then. Hinata, right?"

The white-eyed girl smiled and took Sakura's hand. "I…thank you, Sakura-san. I think we'll…what are they doing?"

She pointed down to the entrance, causing Sakura to turn and widen her eyes at what they saw.

Standing around the door were five clones of Naruto holding large barrels of tar, while Sasuke struggled to hold back a large rubber band held up by kunai with a bag of feathers held inside.

The original Naruto observing the operation looked back at the girls with a grin.

"Too much?"

Sakura clearly hadn't displayed her full taijutsu potential at the Academy as she broke the twenty metre dash record in an instant, leaping down to the entrance and slamming a foot into Naruto's head, causing him to grimace in agony and forcing the clones to disperse.

The barrels of tar spilled out onto the ground beneath the entrance door. In order to keep himself from laughing, Sasuke was forced to release the band, causing the feather to slam into the door and cover the ground, which had since been drenched in tar.

Hovering over Naruto with her hands clenched, Sakura's long hair flailed behind her. "You idiot! Not only would be making a stupid impression on our squad leader, but you even involved Sasuke-kun, who clearly wanted nothing to do with it!"

"Sorry…Sakura-chan."

_Even though it was Sasuke's idea…_

Up at the desks, Hinata smiled and supressed a slight giggle. When she had graduated she had been ecstatic, but also afraid of whom she might be working with. Even since he had helped her with those bullies years ago, she had admired Naruto and his…different approach to shinobi life.

_If I'm going to be on his team…I should…_

"Oi, Hinata!"

She jumped slightly and looked down, seeing Naruto standing up proudly with a large bruise on his head, as the three of them looked up at her.

Naruto waved towards them, "What are you doing up there? Come on down here, you are missing all the fun!"

Her smile widened as she fought down a blush. Nodding quickly she walked down towards them, thinking about all the adventures they were going to have together.

* * *

***Six Hours Later***

The door to the room slowly opened as Kakashi walked in with his face in his book. "Sorry, I'm late. I was…"

Looking into the room he saw that any excuse was going to be pointless at this point. His four new students were all asleep at their respective desks. Sasuke slept with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face, while Sakura slept on the desk beside him with her face covered in hair. Hinata looked rather peaceful at her desk, though there was a little piece of drool running down the side of her face. What Kakashi couldn't quite understand was how Naruto was able to sleep at all, since he was embedded within a hole that had been torn out of the room.

"I guess six hours was a bit much…"

Placing his new Icha Icha Abuse in his pocket, Kakashi took a slow breath through his mask, a difficult task. It was late at night, but he wanted to give them the details before their task tomorrow.

His hands ran rapidly through a long set of handseals before running a large amount of chakra through his arm.

"Konoha Ninjutsu Ougi: Jigoku no Okiru! (Konoha Secret Ninja Technique: Wake the Hell Up!"

His extended arm exploded outwards with lightning energy, covering the room in deafening sounds of a thousand birds being struck by lightning at once.

The sound was enough to wake up everyone in a five block radius.

Naruto leapt out of the wall in dramatic fashion, hitting the roof with a groan before slamming back down into the ground.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, his feet over his head.

The other three woke up in less frightening ways, but were still surprised at the deafening sound coming from the Jounin's hand.

Sakura groaned as she collected her hair around her head, "Eh? Morning already?"

Kakashi grinned as he placed up a hand in greeting. "Yo!"

"Oh, it's a Jounin." Sasuke cracked his neck loudly as he stood up from his seat.

Behind him, Hinata didn't comment, but wiped her face and straightened out her shirt.

Kakashi clapped his hands together and looked over the four of them. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, your Jounin instructor. You are to meet me at training ground three at five in the morning."

He gave them a quick salute before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

From his position on the ground, Naruto rolled his eyes and picked himself up. "He was that late…to tell us…"

Looking at her watch, Sakura sighed and placed her head back onto the desk. "That's six hours from now…"

She looked over at Sasuke with an embarrassed smile. "Would you like to walk me home, Sasuke-kun?"

He looked up at her with a look that could only be described as indifferent before looking down at Naruto and giving him a slight nod. "I'm going home. You coming?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto went to follow Sasuke out the room, but stopped suddenly. He turned to look at the other two members of their team. "Are you girls going to be okay?"

Sakura frowned at his attention, while Hinata blushed slightly and nodded slowly. "I should be okay…Naruto-kun."

The two boys walked out of the room back to their apartment, while Sakura sighed again and looked back at Hinata.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

oOoOoOo

The four new Genin greeted each other drowsily as they came together in the training field.

"It's a certain kind of evil that would bring us here this early…" complained Sakura, rubbing her head with a yawn. "I didn't get a chance to brush my hair or anything…"

Naruto grinned widely, "I didn't brush my teeth this morning, and I forgot to change my underwear."

Sakura stared at him with a look of pure disgust, "That's just…wrong."

Beside the two of them, Hinata pushed her fingers together awkwardly. "What are we going to do? Sensei isn't here yet."

Sasuke walked over to the three logs sticking out of the ground and sat down with his back to the middle log. "If it's anything like last night, he won't be here for a while."

"That's a good point, teme. Say Sakura-chan, would you…"

"No."

"But I…"

Sakura looked at him with a flare in her eyes. Feeling his instincts overtaking him, Naruto stepped back with his hands up defensively.

"Cut it out the two of you" said Sasuke, with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. "We need to save our strength for when Kakashi shows up."

Sakura's furious demeanour changed instantly as she turned and nodded with a wide smile. "Of course, Sasuke-kun. Would you like me to get you a drink of water?"

"I don't care" muttered the young Uchiha.

As Sakura continued to try and get Sasuke's attention, Hinata walked up to Naruto with a deep blush on her face. "Ano…Naruto-kun…"

"Eh?" The blonde Genin turned to her with a confused look, "Something wrong, Hinata?"

"It's…" Her voice failed her as she didn't know what to do under his gaze.

Seeing her struggle, Naruto gave a wide grin and patted her on the shoulder as he walked to the log and sat down beside his old friend. "I guess we just wait, huh? What a drag, as Shikamaru would say."

oOoOoOo

***One Hour Later***

Just as the sun began to rise over the horizon, the four Genin jumped as a puff of smoke appeared in their midst, revealing the masked Jounin they had met the previous night.

"Sorry, I'm late. I was…what is with those faces?"

His four students all stared at him with utter disgust, even the normally peaceful Hinata.

With an awkward laugh, Kakashi placed a hand on the back of his neck. "I guess I can't make any decent excuses, right?"

Both Naruto and Sakura both stamped their feet on the ground in perfect unison. "NO!"

Kakashi shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets. "Oh well. I suppose we should get this thing going then. Why don't we start with some introductions?"

"Since you are the teacher, why don't you start?" suggested Sakura.

"Hmm, not a bad idea. Okay then. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I've been a Jounin for long than you kids have been alive. Yeah, that's about it. Alright, say your name, and your likes and dislikes."

He indicated to the pink-haired girl, who smiled widely and stepped forward. "Hai! I'm Haruno Sakura. I like…the person I like…gah!"

Judging from the looks she was giving the young Uchiha, Kakashi was able to see the situation fairly clearly. "Okay…and dislikes?"

She glared at their blonde teammate. "Naruto."

The Uzumaki fell over dramatically, and as he went to pick himself up and say something a foot came crashing down onto him and burying him into the ground.

Hinata jumped slightly at Sakura relentlessly beating Naruto, and went to stop her when she saw him stand up without a bruise on him.

_I…shouldn't interfere._

"Gee, that's harsh, Sakura-chan. You are always so violent…" said Naruto with a groan. He wasn't really complaining, it was her impulsiveness that he admired, but he wondered what would happen when she came after him with a weapon.

Ignoring the interaction between the two of them, Kakashi indicated to the Uchiha who had been quiet until now. "What about you?"

Opening his eyes finally, Sasuke stood up and stretched his shoulders. "Uchiha Sasuke. My likes…are my own. And my dislikes are people who slow me down…like that Senju girl."

Kakashi nodded in acknowledgement, he saw a lot of himself when he was that age in Sasuke. He wasn't sure why Fiore was slowing him down, considering he had heard they'd had little interaction between one another. Turning to the dark haired girl, he indicated for her to go.

Hinata bowed deeply to the Jounin. "Nice to meet you. My name is Hyuuga Hinata. My likes are flower arranging and cinnamon rolls. I…um…don't like bullies…"

The Jounin stared at her for a few seconds, wondering how someone who looked so quiet and shy was able to get such a reasonable score in her graduation exam.

_I suppose she must have some talents, I shouldn't judge just yet._

Naruto bounced up from his position, grabbing to his forehead protector proudly. "My turn, my turn! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen; though I love the ramen at Ichiraku's the best. I don't really hate anything, but I dislike it when people tell me I can't do something. That's why I want to be Hokage, so that everyone will have to acknowledge me."

Kakashi smiled as he looked over his four students. It was clear to him that Naruto was a lot like Obito, he even had the opportunistic dream that his old friend did, but Kakashi could appreciate that dream.

"Okay. You all seem like people who could be shinobi. However I beg to differ with the graduation results. There are four of you, and I only need three."

Sakura frowned and placed her hands across her chest. "But the Hokage said…"

Kakashi jumped forward to stare her straight in the face, "I don't care. You will be my soldiers, and I don't need any extra weight."

Flexing his hands in anticipation, Sasuke walked up beside Naruto with a slight smile. "So, what's the test?"

Stepping back from Sakura, Kakashi looked at the Uchiha and smiled through his mask. If Naruto was like Obito, then Sasuke reminded him of himself, before he'd had reality beaten into him.

_This could be entertaining. _

He indicated to the training ground around them. "I'm going to test your abilities, and see which person will be sent back to the Academy."

The Jounin flexed his gloves hands dramatically. "If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, then I can't promise you'll survive."

His four Genin students all gulped in anticipation, realising that the masked Jounin was serious about fighting them. Both Naruto and Sasuke grinned happily, while the two girls were a little nervous about how they would measure up.

Kakashi jumped back and began counting backwards.

"Three, two one. Scatter!"

The four of them immediately disappeared as their test began.

oOoOoOo

Kakashi looked around the training ground intently. As a Jounin he knew where each of them were hiding, but he could at least appreciate the efforts they had made.

_Let's see…_

Sakura was hiding in a large cluster of bush a short distance away, to the point that he couldn't see her with his eye, though he could sense her in every other way.

_What kind of shinobi wears perfume to a test…_ he thought with a sigh.

It was difficult to sense where Hinata was hiding at first, but after extending out his chakra he was able to determine her position, which was the furthest away from him behind a wall.

_I suppose with her ability that makes sense. She has a good understanding of her strengths. _

Sasuke was hiding in tall tree above Sakura's position, but Kakashi could also sense him a short distance away blended in with the bush.

_A good application of the Bunshin technique. He has talent, as one would expect. _

When he looked for Naruto, he felt an inevitable groan exit his mask. Standing at the edge of the lake in an overly chauvinistic fashion was the blonde Genin, pointing at the Jounin dramatically.

"Let's have a MANLY fight!"

_Okay, perhaps he isn't like Obito after all. _

Kakashi rolled his eye and walked slowly towards him with his hands in his pockets. "You know, a shinobi is meant to be quiet, and stealthy."

Naruto pointed at him with a fist. "Where is the fun in that? You wanted a fight; I'm here to give you one!"

With that, Naruto charged at Kakashi loudly, bringing back a fist to punch his directly in the face.

Kakashi went to pick up his book from his pocket, but decided against it when he realised how close he was to the water.

_It's limited edition, so I can't get it damaged. Perhaps I should get a special covering or something. _

Just as the blonde's punch went to connect with his head it was blocked by his gloved hand. Naruto swore and swung his legs along the ground, which was deftly avoided by Kakashi jumping into the air and standing back down on the ground without changing his bored expression.

"Damn you…" swore Naruto, running around the side to drive a kunai into Kakashi's side.

To his surprise, Kakashi had disappeared completely from his sight.

"Where…"

"Behind you" came Kakashi's voice, as the Jounin stood behind him with his arms crossed.

Naruto turned around with a frightening look, having not been able to read his movements at all, unlike his sparring sessions with Sasuke.

Kakashi breathed out slowly and placed a single finger in the air. "Lesson One: Taijutsu."

With no warning at all, Kakashi reached out and slammed him in the face, sending the Genin flying into the distance. Kakashi looked at the fallen shinobi with disappointment.

"That was…anti-climactic."

He walked towards Naruto and leaned down next to his seemingly unconscious body. "I guess we know who is the weakest of the group."

The blonde Genin shifted his head slightly on the ground and looked up at his instructor with a wide grin. "You shouldn't…underestimate me…"

He disappeared in a flash of smoke, leaving Kakashi staring at the ground with surprise.

_That wasn't a substitution…that was…_

Dozens of Naruto's burst out of the water with a loud collective roar, all of them charging towards Kakashi fiercely.

The Jounin was initially surprised at the Genin's ability to use the Kage Bunshin, but considering his father it wasn't something for him to be unprepared for.

_The kid has skill, but he's far too reckless. He could have ambushed me and demonstrated his abilities, but instead he has forfeited that opportunity. _

The clones surrounded him and began attacking him with a type of reckless taijutsu that was almost embarrassing to fight against. Every time he blocked a clone's attack he destroyed it with a retaliation blow, quickly working his way through the group without even suffering a scratch.

As the last clone disappeared, Kakashi stood back and let out another sigh. He had expected the son of his teacher to be better than this.

On instinct he jumped to the side, watching with his single eye as Naruto appeared right where he had been standing, holding a kunai in one hand threateningly.

"Not bad, Kakashi-sensei."

Smiling under his mask, Kakashi had to give it to Naruto. "Using the clones as a distraction to transform into the background so you could ambush me. Impressive, even if it didn't work."

Naruto laughed awkwardly and put down his kunai before reaching into his jacket and producing his prize. In his hand was the latest edition of Icha Icha, taken straight out of Kakashi's pocket.

"I've got your book" he stated proudly, holding it up high.

With a tired look, Kakashi showed Naruto his own prize.

"I've got your pants."

For a few seconds Naruto figured it was a trick to distract him. Until he realised that the orange pants in Kakashi's hand had the same ramen stain from this morning on its front.

Looking down in despair, Naruto saw that he was standing in his jacket and boxers on the battlefield.

He hung his head in shame, almost dropping his kunai as he silently prayed that Sasuke couldn't see him. When he looked up again, he saw Kakashi standing directly in front of him, with his hand in front of his face.

_I didn't hear a…_

Kakashi flicked him in the head as hard as possible, sending him flying away again.

oOoOoOo

Shuffling along the ground, Sakura grinned when she looked over at the three logs in the training field. Struggling against a tightly bound rope was Naruto, hanging upside down with only his boxers remaining.

_That stupid Naruto, he looks like he's at his limit already. _

The pink haired girl supressed a chuckle and rubbed her neck sorely. She'd been crawling around on the ground for nearly two hours, and could feel her hair splitting under the pressure.

A shiver ran up her spine, causing her to look around feverishly.

Squatting behind Sakura was her Jounin instructor, analysing her every move as he had for the past twenty minutes without her noticing.

She turned around with a terrified look on her face, feeling the blood run to her feet upon seeing him.

Kakashi grinned and gave her a quick salute.

"Yo."

Sakura let out a shriek that would shame a banshee and leapt back immediately, slamming her head against a tree.

"Argh…" she stuttered, clutching her head in a foetal position.

When she looked up Kakashi was standing over her with a collection of papers in his hands. Being the ardent student that she was, Sakura's eyes widened as she recognised what he was about to do.

Kakashi threw the papers over her, using tiny amounts of chakra to attach them on her face and body. Sakura tensed up in horror, only able to watch the Jounin disappear in a cloud of leaves before the papers on her body began to shine.

Tears streamed down her face as the notes prepared themselves to explode.

"I don't want to die!" she wailed, dropping to her knees in despair. "Save me, Sasuke-kun!"

The papers shone brightly across her body for several seconds, before releasing a vicious odour all over the young girl's body.

At first Sakura was stunned by the fact that the notes hadn't exploded, but when the stench hit her nose she almost did a backflip in a vain attempt to rid herself of the smell.

"Get them off me! ARGH! IT'S IN MY MOUTH AND EVERYTHING!"

After a minute of being unable to stand the smell, Sakura collapsed onto the ground with her arms and legs sprawled dramatically.

Her face fell into the dirt as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"No…more…"

From his far away position, Kakashi put down his hands and looked at the knocked out Genin.

"Lesson Two: Genjutsu" he muttered to himself.

oOoOoOo

Kakashi walked through the training field with his hands in his jacket pockets, nodding to himself.

_Well that's two down. There's just two hours left in this session, though I can't say I'm impressed. _

He froze as he felt a kunai pressed against his throat. Turning slightly, he saw Sasuke's smirking face standing at his side.

"You let your guard down," he said smugly.

The silver haired Jounin shrugged with a calm expression. "Not bad."

Sasuke went to declare his victory, but flinched when he saw the Jounin disappear in a cloud of smoke.

The young Uchiha swore and lowered his kunai, "Kage Bunshin?"

"Not good enough though."

He spun around and caught the punch that Kakashi had thrown at his head, feeling the impact run up his arm painfully. His brother rarely had the time to spar with him, but even in those rare times he hadn't felt anything like this before.

Maintaining his stoic appearance, Sasuke clutched at the Jounin's fist. "Don't…underestimate…me."

Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Kakashi pulled back his hand from Sasuke's grip without effort and put up his hands in a defensive stance. "Bold words. But you are at a disadvantage."

Sasuke didn't respond, dropping to his feet and throwing his kunai directly at Kakashi's face.

The Jounin easily caught the kunai between his fingers, respecting the Uchiha's speed but mentally judging him for such a basic attack.

He went to attack Sasuke again, but hesitated when he saw the young shinobi flipping backwards while flicking his hands seemingly at random.

Kakashi smiled in admiration as he ducked under the spring-loaded shuriken traps that Sasuke was activating with thrown projectiles. He jumped back to avoid several explosion notes, noticing with his single eye that Sasuke was running through a short set of handseals.

He didn't hide his surprise as Sasuke activated the technique, "That's…"

Sasuke placed his hand to his mouth, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

A massive fireball exploded towards Kakashi, burning up the ground beneath it. The Jounin frowned and leapt out of the way, wondering how someone who was only a Genin could produce such a high-chakra technique.

"Impressive. But a straightforward attack won't work on me," he said whilst flying in the air.

He didn't hear a response from Sasuke, but considering his personality it wasn't so surprising. Looking down at the ground, his eye widened when he saw the young Uchiha using a kunai to slice through several strings on the ground, sending nearly a hundred shuriken directly at the masked Jounin.

_Clever. His timing is impeccable, but such a technique…_

Clapping his hands together, the Jounin utilised his vast library of techniques and activated a defensive technique. "Lesson Three: Ninjutsu."

A small wall of earth emerged beneath him, blocking all the projectiles from his body as he landed on the ground. He had expected Sasuke to ambush him upon landing, but the Uchiha boy was simply standing still with a frustrated expression.

_How disappointing. _

He went to throw a kunai at the Genin, but upon realising what he had done spun around and clashed his kunai with the one Sasuke had nearly driven into his neck.

Even through his mask, Kakashi was able to convey a smile to the shinobi. "A Bunshin to distract me. A basic technique, but effective."

Sasuke drew back his kunai to strike at him again, but a blow from behind knocked him to the ground. Kakashi looked at the clone that had taken out Sasuke, nodding to him before looking down at the fallen Genin.

"But this is real combat. Not everything will go to your plan, Sasuke."

_At first I thought Itachi had taught him well. But techniques and taijutsu don't make a shinobi. _

oOoOoOo

Kakashi crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the four Genin in front of him. Naruto was still tied up on the log, though that was purely an amusement thing on his part. Sasuke was still furious at his defeat and was leaning on one of the logs next to Naruto. Sakura was drenched from head to toe with water from the nearby lake, and was sitting away from the others with a deep blush on her face. Unlike the others, Hinata stood quietly with her hands together, trying not to look at Naruto.

"Somebody wake up Naruto please," asked Kakashi.

Reaching out with his leg, Sasuke kicked Naruto in the side, hard.

The blonde shinobi cried out and struggled against his bonds, staring at Sasuke angrily. "TEME! What the hell was that for?"

The Uchiha tsked and indicated with his head to Kakashi.

Naruto turned his head to the Jounin, letting out a gasp when he saw the masked teacher's face. "Ah! Let me down you bastard!"

Kakashi rolled his eye dramatically, "This test is over."

"How…did we do?" asked Hinata awkwardly.

"Not well, Hinata. I'll start with you."

He pointed to her face, particularly at her full white eyes. "You did well to avoid detection. Your sight with those eyes is impressive."

Hinata smiled proudly, she rarely was praised in such a manner, and coming from a Jounin it meant a lot to her.

The other three Genin looked at her with confused looks. None of them had known much about the Hyuuga girl's abilities, but the fact that she wasn't dishevelled like the others was impressive.

"But, you didn't actually do anything. The test was to examine your abilities, but even though you could see the others in trouble you did nothing to assist them."

The Hyuuga heir dipped her head in disappointment, acknowledging her own failures. She had seen both Naruto and Sasuke fight against the Jounin, but only thought she would get in the way.

Kakashi indicated to Naruto with a barely audible groan. "Naruto, you did about six thousand things wrong, so I'm not even going to bother."

"Hey! What about…"

The Jounin's single eye stared him down. "I'm not…going…to bother."

Naruto looked down, which was up, at his near-naked form and let out a long sigh. "Okay…fine…"

"Next!" Kakashi pointed to Sakura, who was trying to strain the water out of her hair. "Little Miss Haruno. You did well to hide for such a long time, but your reaction under pressure was abysmal. You didn't even notice that you were under a genjutsu."

Sakura twitched uncontrollably upon hearing what he said, sniffing her armpit in a very unladylike manner.

She couldn't smell anything.

The pink haired Genin let out a long sigh and collapsed onto her back. "Oh thank god…"

Kakashi frowned at her reaction, but let it go as he turned to Sasuke. He could tell the Uchiha wasn't going to be one to respond to criticism well, similar to how he was with Naruto's father.

_Ah, I suppose I should tell him about my teacher at some point or another. _

Bringing himself back to the subject of Sasuke, Kakashi let out a cough and began his analysis. "I won't tell you that you have an impressive instinct in battle or a good way of attacking your opponent. You're okay. Nothing special."

Sasuke frowned, but didn't reply. Beside him, Naruto struggled to contain himself from laughing. Sensing an opportunity, Sasuke reached over and taped Naruto's mouth shut, surprisingly easy considering the Uzumaki's bonds.

"Right…anyway…" Kakashi pointed to the section of the training ground he had fought the Uchiha on. "Your skills are showy and your movements are sloppy. If you were fighting with your teammates, they would be in danger more because of you than the enemy shinobi would be."

The Uchiha Genin bit at his lip, but swallowed his anger and nodded to the Jounin in acknowledgement.

_So this is the power of a Jounin? Brother has been holding back on me, it seems. _

On the log, Naruto struggled to speak under the tape Sasuke had put on his mouth. Kakashi sighed and asked Sasuke to remove the tape.

Naruto let out a slight whimper as the tape was torn off his mouth, and he only glared at Sasuke with an indication he would get him later before turning to Kakashi.

"So…what happened with the test?"

Kakashi leaned back on a tree and rubbed at his chin. "Well, in my mind you all failed. But the Hokage seems set on me taking on students, so I guess there is nothing to do about it."

He pointed to the four of them with one of his gloved hands, "I'll leave the decision to you. I only need three students, so one of you is going to go back to the Academy."

With that, the masked Jounin disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving them to their choice.

Sakura looked up from her seat on the ground, lamenting that she had been given such an odd instructor. "So…what are we going to do?"

Hinata walked over to her and forced herself to look at her companions without staring. "I…think…"

"What's that, Hinata? I can't hear what you are saying," came Naruto's voice, though it was quite strained.

Sasuke resisted the urge to tape his mouth again, resolving to just point to Naruto's bright red face. "That's because all the blood has rushed to your head, dobe."

"What?"

Deciding to ignore Naruto, Sasuke indicated to the quiet Hyuuga girl. "You were saying something?"

"Well…you see…" Hinata swallowed her embarrassment, "I don't mind going back…"

"Are we seriously considering this?" asked Sakura.

"I was just thinking…I didn't want to hold you guys back…"

Her pink haired companion smiled warmly and looked up at the nervous girl, reminded of how she used to be before she met Ino, and then before Ino became well, Ino. "If anyone should go back, it should be me. I didn't do anything besides being knocked out…"

_Sasuke-kun…I've shown you a pitiful side of me. I hope you can understand that isn't me._

On the log, Naruto was still struggling to hear anything, but from the interactions between the girls he could see it was something serious, so he sat there upside quietly.

Beside him, Sasuke let out a long breath and crossed his arms, staring up at the clear sky. "Brother was right. I guess I wasn't ready…"

"What was that, Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

"Nothing," he replied quickly. He indicated to Naruto with his foot, "I'm sure Naruto would offer the same, idiot that he is."

From his position in the bushes, Kakashi watched the four Genin interacting with interest. He'd posed the question to see who the weak link in the team was, but they all seemed to have a similar reaction, though the two boys still seemed to have their confidence about them.

_Hokage-sama, this might actually work. _

Rummaging through Naruto's jacket, he removed his beloved book with care, sighing when he saw a greasy finger stain on the cover.

_I've got to get plastic covers. Particularly if he wants me to train these kids up. _

Pulling out a small notepad, Kakashi began writing down his analysis of their abilities. What he said to the Genin wasn't the entire truth, but it had been close.

Naruto's ability to use Kage Bunshin was impressive, and his more prankster nature gave him an interesting way of using the clones.

_How he could make so many clones and not get exhausted is beyond me though. Even Minato-sensei didn't have that kind of strength, though his wife was of a similar nature to her son. _

He'd been disappointed that Sakura hadn't been able to tell that she was under a genjutsu, considering her scores from the Academy. The silver haired Jounin was willing to put it down to nerves, but she would need some work.

Sasuke had impressed him. That was not a doubt in Kakashi's mind. Considering his blood and his talent, it hadn't surprised him that Sasuke was as good as he was, though he still paled compared to Itachi at that age.

_I would have thought Sasuke would be more arrogant, but it would seem spending time with the more fun-loving Naruto has tempered his ego. But I can see the slippery slope he is on. He needs work too, but I suspect that isn't something I can influence. _

Turning to Hinata, Kakashi was unsure what to make of the Hyuuga heir. He'd had interactions with the Hyuuga clan in the past, particularly in the Third Shinobi War, and she seemed nothing like any of the clansman he had met before.

_She seems overly nervous and shy about everything. I can only imagine what that childhood was like. _

Despite that, her use of the Byakugan was impressive, and he suspected there were things that she could do if only she had the confidence.

Shutting his notepad, Kakashi cracked his neck and stared back at the Genin, seeing that they were still arguing over which one of them should go back to the Academy, with each of them saying they should go.

_Why do I feel like I'm going to age a decade by spending time with these kids?_

* * *

**Author's Note**:

I'm sure the Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Sakura team has been done to death, I'm not sure since I didn't check. But I wanted this story to be about their relationships with each other in the team, a more 'character' based story, compared to my more 'action' based story The Wanderers.

My god nervous Hinata is a pain in the ass to write without her coming off as pathetic. Super-difficult.

Okay, now that all the setup is done, we can get on with the story. Everything from about now onwards will be original. At least until the Chuunin Exams, but even those will be of my own creation.

This story will probably be a monthly thing, if not a bit longer. It's difficult to say, since I write this when I'm in that proper mindset.

Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each reasonable review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.


End file.
